Awkward Realization
by crailis
Summary: [MultiChapter] [KatAang] [Complete] After Aang tells her something she didn't really expect, Katara has quite a bit of trouble adjusting. [Chapter 4 Did You Mean It?]
1. Surprise

Alright. This is my first attempt at a Multi-Chapter story. Do not expect it to be incredibly long. I'm only expecting this to reach about 4 chapters, and nothing more.  
I will get this done, no matter what. This story is coming to me so quickly an so full that theres nothing you, as a reviewer, can do to change the outcome of the story. I will update it at my own pace, but hopefully it will be done by the end of the week. Expect it rather quickly.  
As always: in Katara's Point of View  
Think of this as a prologue!

I promise you, there are no spoilers for episodes 7-9 in this. I personally made sure of that.  
Any episode after those, as in 10 and beyond, I have no clue about just like the rest of you.  
And I own nothing!

------------------

**Surprise**

It had all come so quickly, and at such a horrible time, I don't think there was anything I could do.

As we were getting ready for the first step of the invasion on the Day of Black Sun, Sokka quickly went over everything we needed to do. We were listening intently, nodding every time he went over something important.

…All of us besides Aang, anyway.

He was sitting there, listening of course, but he looked incredibly nervous. I suspected it was all of his nerves building up for the battle he was about to face, but just the way he handled made it seem like I was wrong. Every once in a while, I would catch the faintest hint of a blush on his face, him mouthing words to himself, and then he would continue fidgeting.

I decided to ignore this and continue listening to Sokka, who had just reminded us of the fact that the eclipse itself will only last the duration of eight minutes.

We started to make our way in to the Fire Nation capital when I felt a light tug on my wrist. I stopped automatically and turned to see Aang standing there, looking positively nervous.

"Katara, I need to tell you something…"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw both Sokka and Toph were stopped mid-stride. Sokka in particular looked incredibly bothered. "Aang, what are you doing?! We need to go!" he yelled out in annoyance.

Aang acted as if he didn't hear this and just looked right at me. "Katara… I love you…"

I didn't even know how to react to this at the moment. But instead of looking at Aang, I turned to look at my brother and Toph, looking for some indication of what they thought. I saw a slight smirk appear on Toph's face, but watched it fade away only seconds later. Sokka, on the other hand, was glaring at Aang. I don't know if it was because of Aang's horrible timing, or the fact that the Avatar just confessed his love to his little sister.

I turned to look at him again, but still no words came to me. I couldn't even smile. I was, to a degree, thankful that Aang continued. He still sounded completely nervous, a signature blush still bright on his face.

"I've wanted to say that for a really long time. A lot of things have kept me from finding the right words… but… I love you. There's no other way to put it."

I had absolutely no time at all to even begin saying anything before I felt Sokka take my arm and pull me towards him, shooting another glare at Aang.

"What is there about an 'eight minute eclipse' that you guys don't understand?! Let's go!"

And we did. We didn't say a single word to one another as we picked up our pace, entering the capital at a forced run.

Aang was as far away from me as he could be, a blush still lingering on his cheeks, but his face bearing a look of determination that I hadn't seen before.

I let all the words he said to me earlier slip from my mind as I let the impending battle be the only thing that occupied my thoughts, wanting nothing more than for this invasion idea to work out.

Too bad it didn't happen that way.

We lost.

We made our way toward the Western Air Temple, which was the closest non-Fire Nation territory we could find.

As we were flying through the sky, tired and battle torn, I felt Aang's gaze upon me. I turned to look at him, and I frowned a bit the moment our eyes met. Reactively, we moved away from each other so we were now sitting on entirely opposite sides of the Bison's saddle, turning away from each other, and looking out at the redish-yellow clouds that were floating in the sky.


	2. Feeble Attempts

Yup! Second chapter already! Told you it was going to be added pretty quickly.  
Katara's Point of view!  
I own nothing!

------------------

**Feeble Attempts**

That same day, we were all setting up. I had healed both Sokka and Toph's minor wounds, but I hadn't gotten to Aang just yet. I was putting it off, even though I knew I shouldn't.

It was only when Sokka flat out told me to get around to it did I finally attempt.

I slowly made my way up a flight of stairs to where he was staying. Millions of thoughts and scenarios were running through my mind, just in case he wanted to make conversation.

"No, no, no…" is what I would mumble when I made possible outcomes seem too awkward for myself. This happened quite often, and then I would shake my head and go over it again. It was strange how many things had gone through my head as I walked up that rather short bit of stairs. It made me wonder if either I was just walking really slowly, or if time seemed to stand still for me every once in a while. After what Aang said to me, either seemed incredibly probable.

_What if he tries to tell me again? I don't know if I can handle that! All of this is just so confusing…_ were the thoughts that crossed my mind most frequently. I truly didn't know how I was supposed to react or how he expected me to. I was in no shape to answer when he first told me, and I'm still in that same situation now.

But when I finally made my way up to his room, he was sleeping. I felt a wave of relief wash over me as I approached him. I healed all of his wounds as quickly as I could, not wanting to even really look at him much longer, due to the fact that questions kept flooding back.

Before I decided to leave him be, I let my hand drift over and lay on his heart for a moment. It was beating rather fast, and his breathing was also rather irregular for a person who was sleeping.

This made me grin a bit. He was _faking_ it. I don't know if he was doing it for my sake, or for some other reason, but it made me thankful either way.

I made my way back towards the door and I stopped in the doorway. I looked back at him and frowned, then continued my way out.

"So…" The sound of Toph's voice made me stop in my tracks right at the top of the stairs and turn towards her. She was propped up against the stone wall, one foot flat on the ground while the other was against the stone wall, her arms crossed.

"Did you talk to him?" she asked slowly, even though it was apparent she already knew the answer.

"Who?" I said slowly and casually, as if I didn't know what she was talking about.

"…Aang?" one of her eyebrows rose in confusion as she asked, making her look more annoyed than she already did.

"What would I talk to him about?"

She approached me and I felt every muscle in my body stiffen as I looked down at the girl that almost seemed to be towering over me.

"You know what I'm talking-"

"Sorry, but I don't." I cut her off as I started to back away from her.

"Yes you do! You're lying to yourself!"

I started walking away at a quicker pace than I was used to. The moment I reached the bottom of the steps, I heard Toph yell after me; "You're hopeless, Sugar Queen; absolutely hopeless!"

And that was the last I had heard from Toph for the rest of the evening, so the rest of the day was rather quiet until we actually decided to sit down and eat something.

Of course, saying dinner was loud would be a lie. We had never been quieter than we were then.

The four of us sat in silence, basically only poking at the food I had prepared for us. Sokka and Toph were sitting next to each other, as were Aang and I, even though we were a considerable distance apart in comparison.

We barely even made a sound, let alone speak to each other. Through almost the entire meal, Toph was holding her bowl and drumming her fingers along the outside in a mix of what seemed to be annoyance and anticipation. After eating a few bites, Sokka would shift his eyes between Aang and I, then continue with his meal, and then it would repeat all over again.

One thing in particular that I noticed was that Aang and I would rarely ever move, and on the rare occasion that we did, it would make the other jump in surprise. It was as if even the tiniest twitch in our bodies would have a violent reaction in the other, making it apparent that we were both keeping an eye on each other just outside our line of vision. During these little jumps, Toph would grumble or Sokka would sit up a little straighter. Apparently, it happened more often than I realized.

I sighed and Aang sighed at the same time, although it probably wasn't intentional. I quickly turned towards him, and he did the same, and our eyes met probably the first time since our ride to the temple on Appa. Just as quickly as it had happened, I turned away and covered my face with my hands, trying to hide whatever blush that would inevitably come.

Then I heard Toph's bowl hit the ground with a bit of a clanging sound, which caused us other three to jump a good few feet in the air. She stood up quickly, looking positively angry.

"You people are CRAZY!" she yelled out. "Seriously, what is with you!?" and at this she hit her foot against the ground angrily, which caused a small pillar of rock to come up right next to Sokka, which he dodged just in time. Then she just simply stormed out of the room.

I took this as my chance to leave as well. I got up quickly and practically ran out of the room as well, going in the opposite direction Toph had. After only a few moments, I heard someone's footsteps behind me, which caused me to turn around on the spot. My brother stopped right behind me, looking me straight in the eyes.

"Katara, you really need to go and talk to Aang."

"Talk to Aang? About what?! You and Toph both tell me that I need to, but I don't see what I need to talk to him about!"

"You know what you need to talk to him about! Stop kidding yourself!" He said quickly, crossing his arms.

"Why are you so worried about it? Shouldn't you be more worried about our failure during the invasion?"

"Of course I'm worried about that, but that's irreversible! And, besides, this whole situation between you and Aang is messing with all of us. We haven't had a dinner that silent since the night Aang went unconscious."

I quieted down quickly after that and just stared at Sokka, both angry at him and myself for some reason. I needed to get away from everything just to give myself some time to think.

Turning on the spot, I continued the way I was heading before Sokka stopped me. I wasn't surprised to have to suddenly stop again due to the fact that he grabbed my arm.

"Where are you going?" He asked slowly, he voice noticeably softer than it was just a bit ago.

"I'm going to go feed Appa…" and before he could answer, I jerked my arm away from him, making my way towards where Appa was sleeping at a run, looking back only to see my brother shaking his head and then go back in to the room.

Continuing to where the large beast was currently resting, I found myself thinking everything over again. As I approached Appa, I found myself smiling at him, bringing my hand to rest lightly on his nose.

"Hey, buddy. Long time no chat."


	3. A Convincing Argument

Yuppers, these just keep coming, dont they?  
This is actually the idea that sparked this _entire_ story! I wanted Katara to confide her thoughts to someone, and we all know talking to another person doesn't help much. There was only one logical choice... :3  
I still own nothing!

----------------------------

**A Convincing Argument**

I walked towards the food that was left out for Appa, picking up a few fruits and bringing them to him. It wasn't as if he couldn't feed himself, but I really needed an excuse to get away from everyone. That and he was the only thing I felt like I could talk to at the moment.

I set the fruits in front of him, and watched him take them in his mouth one by one and chew on them happily. I smiled and ruffled the fur on his head a bit, which made him shake his head, opening one large eye to stare right at me.

"I don't know what to do, Appa…" I started softly, once again letting my hand run through his soft white fur. He remained quiet, as if all he wanted to do right now was listen to whatever I had to say. I was immediately thankful, and decided to continue.

"Why is this bothering me so much? What is it about all of this that throws me off?"

Appa growled softly, as if answering me. I just laughed a bit and let the conversation continue. "No, no… I don't think that's it. I know I've thought about Aang and I as…" I paused suddenly, trying to find the right word. So many came, but none of them wanted to escape, to let themselves be heard. After a few moments of this odd silence, I just let myself go on. "But… I've never thought about it to this extent…"

He nodded slightly, emitting another growl from deep in his throat. "Yeah, like I said, I've thought about it… but the idea is just silly." Instead of growling or nodding, he just blinked a few times, as if he didn't know how to react to that.

I backed away from him and then started pacing in front of him. He lifted his head slightly, and let his eyes follow me wherever I went. I paced for a few good minutes, letting my thoughts clear out. Then I stopped right in front of him, looking at him, frowning.

"And then there's Toph and Sokka." I began, my arms crossed, tapping my foot against the ground. "They keep trying to get me to talk about it. Don't they realize how hard this is for me?"

Once again, a loud rumble was heard from the large flying beast, and I nodded in reply. "You're right. They're worried and they care, but they just pushed it a bit far. Did they expect me to react right away?" He tilted his head just slightly, as if he was indicating a shrug. "Well, yeah… Sokka did pull me away right before I got a chance, but I doubt I would have reacted anyways. My thoughts are _still_ jumbled." I sighed sharply, shaking my head, and Appa gave another one of his understanding grumbles. "Exactly, they can't expect me to…It was only a matter of hours ago that Aang said he-"

I cut myself off, and Appa blinked, growling. I began pacing once again, and his eyes started following me. A blush started to rise on my cheeks and I stopped suddenly. "He told me he… _loved_ me." I smiled, looking down at the ground.

Quickly shaking my head, I turned back to Appa "But it was so sudden, like it came out of nowhere!"

Appa opened his mouth and let out a loud growl, which made me jump back. He continued to stare at me, as if he was glaring.

I let everything sink in, letting my gaze drift to the ground once again. I looked back at all of those moments that Aang and I spent together, simply acting like best friends, and it made me smile a little. Then I remembered all of the times that Aang did not act like himself around me, when he would blush, or when he tried to tell me something and was stopped for some reason.

I lifted my hand to my forehead and closed my eyes hard, grumbling to myself. How could I have been so oblivious to this for so long?

"It wasn't out of nowhere, was it?" I asked in an undertone, and he growled positively, lightly, in just a purr.

I began approaching Appa once again. "But even if it wasn't sudden, why _right then_?" I asked sadly, messing with his fur once again. "Just the timing he had…" Shaking my head, I sighed. "The way he said it, it was like a goodbye… like in case one of us didn't survive the fight…"

There was no response to this, but I didn't really mind. I snuggled up closer to the large beast, loving the feeling of his soft fur. It was calming, talking to Appa. It was better than talking with someone who could really answer back, which would make my thoughts more confusing than they already were, and have me go through the process all over again. Although Appa could in fact answer, I took everything he told me my own way, which let all the thoughts come and sort themselves out. I laughed, scratching him on the top of his head, grinning when he purred at the sensation.

Backing away from him, I brought myself to my knees and sat in front of him, my hand lightly resting on his nose. I smiled at him, and whispered softly "So you really think he meant it?"

As a bit of a surprise to me, he nodded just a little bit, as if he truly understood every word I said. I grinned, nodding back "That's good to know. Thank you so much."

I got up, stretching a bit. I walked over to his collection of fruit and rolled a few more over to him. I laughed lightly as he Airbended a few of them towards him and bit down on them harshly. Rolling my eyes, I started walking back in the direction I came.

But the moment I got a good distance away, he growled at me lightly once again. I turned and looked at him, my head tilted slightly to the side.

I sighed softly, grinning, and I felt blood rush to my cheeks. "Yeah, I think I do." After a soft grumble in agreement from him, I turned and continued on my way, my cheeks still warm.


	4. Did You Mean It?

Woo. Final chapter. Sorry it took a little longer than I expected.  
This one is a lot longer than the others. I was really happy with how it turned out.  
Katara POV, of course.  
I dont own Avatar.

--------------------

**Did You Mean It?**

I made my way back towards Aang's room, planning to actually talk to him. I took stairs two at a time, my heart beating at an incredibly fast rate, and my body shaking quite a bit from nervousness. I grumbled at myself quite a few times under my breath, wondering what I was thinking and if this was really the right thing to do now.

But when I finally got to the room he was staying in earlier, he wasn't there.

Glancing around the room, I expected him to be somewhere. I frowned a bit and sighed when I didn't catch any hint of him. Turning, I made my way back out of the room, but I stopped mid stride when I heard a voice close by.

"Couldn't sleep?"

Aang was standing a good distance away, leaning against the railing that was around the balcony. He was simply staring off into the night sky, barely even moving.

Everything I was thinking about only moments earlier left me. I had absolutely no idea what to say to him, how to say it, or even when to. I simply started messing with my hands in an incredibly distracted manner, forcing myself to look away from him.

"Um… Yeah, I guess. I've had a lot of things on my mind…" For only a moment, I thought about leaving it like that, but I nervously continued. I took a few steps closer to him and said softly "How about you?"

He nodded slowly, shrugging slightly "Same… kind of…" I remembered that he was only pretending to be asleep a while ago, and it made me grin.

I took a few steps closer to him, also looking out at the dark sky, not trusting myself to look at him. An awkward silence fell over us, and I used it once again, attempting to compose my thoughts. I leaned against the railing on my forearms, bringing my hands together. I looked down at my hands and twiddled my thumbs in an absent-minded manner.

_Come on, Katara, just say it._ I thought as I only barely glanced at the boy standing next to me. He was looking straight out, not even letting his eyes fall on me. _Strike up conversation! Something!_ I shook my head just barely, closing my eyes tightly. How did I even think any of this would work? I wasn't ready to talk to him about this.

But I decided that it was going to be now or never. The awkward silences that had been held between us over the course of the day were too much for me to handle. If I couldn't talk to him about this, what _could_ I talk to him about?

I pushed myself up off the banister and leaned on it against my hands instead. Tapping my fingers along the stone, I took a few silent breaths, trying to shoo away all the clouded thoughts in my mind. When I was finally about to say something and taking in one final breath, I was cut off by him speaking.

"How could we lose?" After my initial jump at his voice, I grasped his meaning. _Oh, the invasion. Right._ Relief washed over me and I exhaled deeply, making it a bit more audible than I originally intended. He looked at me for a moment, and one of his eyebrows rose just slightly in confusion.

I forced myself to change my thought process, my mind completely lost in the other direction. "I don't know…" My voice changed pitch slightly with every word, which made me cough. He didn't really notice, so I decided to continue. "It was as if they were one step ahead of us the entire time…"

He leaned against the banister on his elbows, allowing his head rest in his hands. "It was supposed to be more like a surprise to them." He let his hands fall over the side of the railing and shook his head. "This should have moved how we planned…"

"I know it should have…" I shrugged and leaned on my forearms like I was earlier. "But, it didn't. And then it was a surprise to us instead." I sighed, adding "There's nothing we can do about it now…"

I turned to look at him, and he simply nodded, looking down at his hands again. Despite everything, I smiled, blushing just a bit.

I don't know how long I was looking at him, or why I was, but I only turned away once I realized how awkward the silence became between us. I began drumming my fingers against one another, staring at them, my thoughts clouding over again.

_What is stopping me from saying anything right now?_ My insecurities were, I suppose. Maybe I wasn't really sure of how I thought about him still, and maybe all of my thoughts about the entire situation were as spur of the moment as his confession was.

Yet, I didn't know anything about his side of the story. I don't know what he was thinking when he told me, or why he chose that moment over all others. I still don't even know if he truly meant it! _That's what I'm here to find out though… right?_ I thought and I nodded. That was true, that _was_ the main reason: to find out if he truly meant it.

The silence between us was so intense that I could hear every little change in his breathing as he stood next to me in equal silence. It might have been selfish of me to think so, but one of the only things I wanted to hear from him right that moment were those three words that I didn't hear him say correctly the first time around. They were surrounded by uncertainty and drowned out by the anticipation of battle that time, so they weren't clear enough to me, and my mind wanted them to be there forever. The thought of hearing them again made me blush deeply.

I once again leaned my hands against the banister for support, taking in a deep breath. _Okay, Katara. You can do this. Now or never, right?_ I just nodded and turned back to Aang.

"Aang…" I started and I was almost surprised that he didn't start the conversation again. He jumped slightly at the sound of my voice but didn't turn towards me, which I was immediately thankful for. "About what you said to me before the invasion happened…" I let my voice trail off, turning my gaze away from him.

"What's there to say?" He answered quickly, which made me look at him again, slightly surprised. He was fidgeting quite a bit just like I was a little while ago, so it made it obvious that his abrupt answer was due to nervousness.

I sighed and shrugged, looking down. "I don't know… I just…" Words escaped me after that, and I had no idea what to say despite all of the thinking I'd done.

"It was really spur of the moment, I guess…" and the moment he said this, it made my heart sink. I was about to comment, but he continued. "And it was obviously the worst time in the world to say it, considering…" I noticed that his voice picked up quite a bit of speed in this sentence, making him seem more nervous than he already did. "And even though I said it… It j-just… didn't…"

"…Did you mean it?" I asked softly, taking all of my willpower to even ask that. It bothered me when he didn't seem to take any notice.

"How was I stupid enough to think that would work?!" he continued, his voice still gaining speed, shaking through every word. "It was just wrong all around! I can't even begin to explain-"

"Aang!" I broke him off loudly, reactively taking hold of him by the shoulder. All of my nerves suddenly came back to me as I looked at him and turned him towards me.

Our eyes met just then, and a blush almost instantly flared on my cheeks, his as well. I could almost feel all of my walls come crashing down around me. I lifted my hand off his shoulder and let it drift down his arm, hovering only a short distance away from his skin the entire time, making him shiver.

"Did… did you mean it?" I took his hand, and he smiled at me just a bit, eyes still locked through all of this. Our fingers just naturally laced together, and it made me laugh softly.

It took him a few moments to do anything, but he soon nodded his head slowly, not once breaking eye contact with me. Out of slight embarrassment, I turned my head downwards, my blush deepening.

I looked at him and realized that he was blushing deeply as well. I noticed that he moved just a few inches closer to me, and it made me laugh in a nervous fashion.

Thoughts started swarming around my head, all of them asking what I was doing. To answer them truthfully, I didn't know. I let my eyelids close slowly, watching for just that last moment as his did the exact same. After a few seconds went by, I could feel his warm breath on my lips. Then, for the first real time, our lips brushed against each others. It was really light at first, as if neither of us wanted to do anything more.

I wasn't sure who, but one of us just melted in to it a bit more, making it feel full. Then the other one did, and it molded in to something I'd never experienced before. Every coherent thought left me right then and there, as if the only thing that mattered in the world was me and Aang, right where we were.

Although the passion between us seemed to grow as our kiss deepened, it was more than that. The whole thing just seemed to make me feel complete, like my yearning for him wasn't completely grasped until that very moment our lips touched. It was powerful; there was no other way to describe the sensation. And I knew just by the way his lips pressed against mine that he felt the exact same way.

We finally broke off what seemed to be decades later. His lips not being against mine gave me this new empty feeling, even though the action itself filled in a vast portion.

Aang never really said what he meant, and I still wanted to hear him say those three words again. But for now, I think I'm content with how it is at the moment. His kiss said it all and screamed it louder than any words ever could.

--------------------

Thanks everyone. I hope this doesn't, you know, really suck or anything.  
I'd like to thank everyone on Kataang Forever for helping me with my grammar, cause the world knows I need it. Thanks to all my reviewers (sorry I dont point out by name, but I love you all). You all just make my day when I come on and see a new one in my in box. Just.. thanks.


End file.
